the braces journey

Assalamualaikum and hello everyone!

An important event had taken place on the 8th of November 2014. Last month, yep. So this post is a little outdated.

And the significant event happened to be that.....

I had my braces taken off! Yaay!!! Metal mouth no more! :D

Though I must admit that I kind of miss wearing my braces. We had been together for almost 4 years and we had grown attached to each other... *sniff*. 

I had started wearing my braces around June 2011. The steps of getting braces are as follows: (plus how I feel about them)

PRE-BRACES

Booked for an appointment with the orthodontist. I did mine at Metro Specialist Hospital, Sg. Petani.

My appointment cards over the years

Came for the appointment on the given date. Doctor checked my teeth condition/diagnose it, lol and make a dental impression of my teeth using that green plasticine-like thing.

Got X rays of my teeth at a different hospital (Hospital Seberang Jaya, Penang).

Two X-Rays: cephalostatic lateral and standard panoramic.

Orthodontist diagnosed again then wrote up a referral letter to the dentist in which tooth should be extracted (scariest part).

Got my teeth extracted. I got two teeth extracted-1st premolars. Wait until 2 months or so for my teeth to be 'healed', get it? 

Came for appointment. Orthodontist checked my teeth again, then he placed in the spacers that will ahem...create spaces between your teeth (usually molars) for the insertion of band.

The blue rubber-band like stuffs are the spacers. 

(Image googled)

 Came over one week later. The spacers hurt, like seriously!  I got a slightly clear idea on how hurt will 'wearing braces' be. 

THE START OF SOMETHING NEW-BRACES!!!!

Then, the moment everyone had been waiting for, getting the braces!!!! The whole process took about an hour. Cementing, gluing, lol...using what kind of sonic beam/rays (I dunno) to put in the brackets on each tooth. And tadaaa... I finally had braces!

Ngeee!!!

(Image googled)

 It doesn't hurt, but wait till you get home *evil laughter*. The pain was unbearable. It was like somebody had punched you in the face and smacked your teeth (only that the teeth did not fall out). The nerves had became all sensitive. I couldn't even properly chew a strand of spaghetti! I couldn't sleep well at night because of the pain. But the pain went away after 3 days, approximately. 

THE YEARS OF WEARING BRACES

Monthly appointments which involved tightening the bands/wires and you had to experience the pain like when you're getting your braces for the first time. 

After about 3 visits, the doctor said there were some problems with my teeth. It's supposed to move backwards but due to some torque/tension/physics stuffs, the opposite happened. So, to rectify the 'damage', I had to wear the TPA (transpalatal arch). It was very uncomfortable. I got food stuck at the top of my mouth (top palate) and I couldn't talk properly(lisp).

Trans-palatal arch

 (image googled)

A series of monthly appointments again. Then the doctor removed the TPA. 

It was on the 1st day of class in my 3rd year that my friends commented on how I looked different and that my teeth condition had improved hahaha. So it took about 1 year plus for you to actually notice the differences braces made to your teeth. 

Continued wearing braces and underwent the monthly ordeals of braces tightening again. I had hoped that my braces could be taken off before my convocation but uhh no, tak sempat... :((

And one thing I realised is that, braces make your mouth look bigger when you're smiling, which is not a pretty sight. Haha.

BRACES-FREE! 

Another visit to the orthodontist and he said that I could have my braces removed for the next visit!!! *throws confetti*

The last visit to the orthodontist. Got the wires, brackets and bands taken off. Cement removed, scaling (the painful horror! D:) and whitening/polishing using the volcanic ash. It definitely felt weird to be able to feel the smooth surface of your teeth when you tongue glided over it. 

The dental impression of my brand new teeth had to be made again to make retainers. Doctor taught how to clean and care for it. And that I have to wear it every night for the rest of my life if I want to have a straight teeth. Like the doctor said 'nothing is permanent in this world'.

POST-BRACES AND RETAINERS

Enjoyed several braces-free days while waiting for my retainer. One night, my jaws and teeth got really hurt, just like the 1st time I got my braces. Sudden changes in the movements of teeth, maybe? I was afraid that my teeth will move too much in just a few days and that the retainers won't fit Dx. On the 3rd night without braces, my orthodontist messaged me saying that he had just dispatched the retainers via poslaju just that afternoon. Pffttt... Retainers arrived the next day, 3 days after I had taken off my braces.

(Image googled)

This is an Essix retainers. It's kind of like the Invisalign. It fits over individual tooth like gloves and hold the teeth better as compared to the traditional Hawley retainer. I have to wear it to sleep every night. It was very uncomfortable at first, but I had gotten used to it by time.

Essix retainers when worn 

Hawley retainers

(Both images googled) 

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT BRACES

Before I got my braces, I kind of suffered from a low self esteem. I had to quickly cover my mouth when I was smiling and laughing to avoid people from noticing it. I felt restricted. But no one had pointed out about the undesirable condition of my teeth right in front of my face. My Convent classmates are so kind-hearted hahaha. Growing up, I didn't realize that my teeth were quite...protruding. A friend of mine even said that she loves my teeth because they were straight, LOL.

 Well, it actually started during CFS. One day, a classmate of mine in CFS asked rather sarcastically 

"Don't you want to get braces? " and I good-naturedly said "Yes, I'm gonna get braces, " (we were always throwing sarcastic remarks to each other lol). I had to admit. I was surprised. I thought that no one would notice my teeth condition. Surely, there were much more important stuffs for them to focus on, like...getting good marks for math quizzes? Boy was I wrong...

A male classmate, when describing me in one of his blog posts, said that 'my front teeth are cute' and he admitted that he was being sarcastic about it.

A friend pointed out that my teeth were always prominently shown whenever I was smiling for pictures pfftt...

And to add the salt to the wound (hahaha), during the holidays, my very young cousin innocently and curiously asked me 'Are you wearing false teeth( dentures) ?' right after she saw me laughing profusely at a joke. Kids don't lie okay. 

I was affected by the stupid 'Halimah Jongang' theme song whenever I ate together with my friends at the U-Cafe and the TV would show us this annoying and irritating so-called comedy. It really isn't funny to make fun of other people's physical appearances!!!

Okayla.. Can't imagine? Here you go. Visual aids....this teeth mould was given to me after I had completed my orthodontic treatment.

My teeth before braces:

Front view. Straight, right? Seems like nothing is wrong, right? 

Presenting....

Right lateral view

Left lateral view

Upside down view, LOL. From this, you can see that my upper teeth overlap the lower teeth wayy too much. 

So, I decided to get braces the year after.

(Read the whole process of getting braces again, haha)

And after almost 4 years, I got to say that getting braces is worth  every pain and penny.  So hurray for braces!!!

I'm too shy to put my picture without braces hahaha. But if we ever meet one day, I'll be sure to flash my post-braces winning smile to you!!! XD

Thank you for reading! :D